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I agree with Noonie here, Sears and K-mart will be casualties of this economy.

My parents used Target for years in Illinois. They loved the pharmacist and they were never that busy.

Once my dad retied and they started to travel full time they tried using Wal Mart for a while but their stores were not all connected by computer at the time, now it's just my mom and she uses Walgreens. Our Wal Mart is the only shopping center in our town, the line at the pharmacy (I am not kidding) can be fifty people at times, and they use the same line for dropping off and picking up....my mom simply can't deal with it, and they don't have a drive up either for drop off pick up, live Walgreens or CVS has. Our Wal Mart Rx also closes for lunch, and the line gets really long then...

Try the CVS and see how they treat you. Competition is a good thing!

My town of 27,000 residents has 5 pharmacies, all very busy due to the neighbor towns that have no pharmacy services from Death Valley, CA to Beaty, NV.

Mail order is not real popular in our area due to the remote areas and it can get pretty hot inside those mail boxes. Today we hit 111 degrees outside....not really good for pills inside a hot box next to the street.

The Walgreens Way to Well Commitment is focused on improving your everyday health through the prevention and early detection of today's leading diseases, like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Our goal is to donate $100 million in preventive resources over the next four years.

As a former employee, I know enough about that company to know that Wal-Mart treats their employees better. This wasn't about Obamacare. That's the culture of the uppermanagement at Sears. I used to stay there for their health insurance until I realized they were stressing me out so badly that I could end up in the hospital. Truth is Sears likes to ride their employees back, at least at the call centers. Working retail for them years ago wasn't so bad.

You knew it was going to happen. Another thing that no one realizes is that just getting our prescriptions filled will become more and more difficult. I've been so upset with Walgreen's, as it's been a nightmare. I found out from a technician in the pharmacy at my local stores that they don't stock much meds and often run out. In cost cutting efforts, they carry a limited stock and have to shuttle meds between stores or order it and have it delivered. That explains the waits, the partial fills where I have to go back, the many people almost screaming at the desk when someone from the store (or they think is from the store) tells them they have it and come pick it up and when they get there, it isn't there.

They have some sort of central ordering system. Now it has finally sunk in that I'm talking to someone who could be in India, who tells me it will be ready in an hour. It happened the other day. I was furious when I came in to pick the meds up, shopped a little so I wouldn't be bugging the pharmacist prematurely, only to finally go up to the counter to pick up the meds and the order hadn't been placed. I almost lost it as it's been happening with frequent regularity. My insurance mandates Walgreens or CVS or Wal-Mart. I won't go to the local Wal-Mart, too far and too crummy.

Has anyone dealt with CVS?

I heard that most of this is because the government has cut reimbursements so much and Wal-Mart undercuts with prices.

This is a mess already, and hold on to your hats, boys and girls, this is going to be an increasingly bumpy ride. Thanks Mr Obama----NOT!!!!!!!!!!

You either want government involvement in our healthcare or you don't. Which is it?

I started going to Rite Aid after having a lot of problems with K-Mart staying in stock. K-Mart. Which company is that part of again?

Sears is in trouble. They keep having to close stores down. They closed down some a year or ago. I think they've closed down most to all of their Great Indoor stores as well. I think this all started when they combined with K-Mart, who was in trouble thanks to their own scandal.

Also, Sears is popular for the older generation. The younger generation isn't as impressed because their home services are not nearly as good as they used to be. The protection plans for items have a lot of loopholes allowing the company not to fulfill their end of the bargain at times. You try to get help at their call centers, and you get passed around (not my fault, my job was sales. I couldn't do anything else).

It's wrong to just blame everything on Obama. This reminds me of when my father got laid off years ago. The company he worked for was shutting down. Some people could have blamed Bush since he was President at the time, but I knew that company had problems for over 14 yrs.

You either want government involvement in our healthcare or you don't. Which is it?

People that paid into Medicare and served in the military have already had gov't in healthcare. Just like those that work for the gov't. Don't forget all those on disability and medicaid. The business community is often forced to eat the extra costs.

President Obama made a commitment to reduce Medicare fraud 50% by 2012. One tool to meet this goal is provisions in the Affordable Care Act that provide an additional $350 million over 10 years to help fight fraud. Part of this fight against fraud includes the creation of an integrated data repository combining data from CMS with other federal programs (e.g., Medicaid, Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, Indian Health Service, etc). The Act also includes agreements that make it easier for the government to share data, identify criminals, and prevent fraud. It also contains stricter rules for providers and suppliers, requiring them to establish detailed plans about how they will follow the rules and prevent fraud. New stronger civil and monetary penalties will also be imposed on offenders.

The President is trying to pay for Obamacare with increased fines for doctors and pharmacists. New expensive record keeping systems will have to be put in place, on top of the 350M the gov't will be spending.

Expect to see more audits overall, but you'll also see more groups auditing...plan sponsors, PBMs, CMS, states, and contract "bounty hunters" working on behalf of the government. These are contracted entities that have the power to audit and receive a percentage of the money they recover. You'll also see audits that extrapolate findings over your entire business and over a couple of years. For example, if auditors identify 2 or 3 claims submitted incorrectly, they'll calculate how much of your business is with a particular government program, calculate the % error rate, multiply it by 2 years, and seek that amount in repayment.

Keep in mind that the government expects to allay at least part of the cost of health care reform through their fraud fighting efforts, so they'll be looking for ways to successfully collect fraud money.

It is important to understand that the person perpetrating the fraud doesn't need to have known that the information they provided was false

New providers and suppliers will be assessed for their level of fraud risk and could be subject to fingerprinting, site visits, and criminal background checks before they are allowed to bill. Payment to individuals or organizations can be withheld if a credible allegation of fraud is made and an investigation is pending.

The False Claims Act contains a whistle-blowers or qui tam provision that allows citizens with evidence of fraud against the government to sue on behalf of the government. They are eligible to receive a portion of the money recovered, usually between 15% and 25%. The rest of the money goes to the government. Whistle-blowers can be anyone...current or ex-employees or even competitors.